Genesis 10:21-31

The Sons of Shem (J and P)

21. And unto Shem, &c. The brief account in verse is from J.

the father of all the children of Eber This is the point in the description of Shem which would seem most honourable to Israelite readers. The names "Eber" and "Hebrew" are almost identical in the Hebrew language. "Eber" was accepted as the ancestor of the Hebrew-speaking peoples. In the widest sense of the word, "Hebrews" are a group of Semitic peoples who issued from the Arabian Peninsula. They are included among the descendants of Joktan and Peleg, as well as of Terah. For the ordinary derivation of the word "Hebrew," as = "the man from the further side" of the river, see Genesis 10:24 and Genesis 14:13. The term "Hebrew" is racial, "Israelite" national; though ultimately used as synonyms.

the elder brother of Japheth These words seem to be inserted, in order to remind the reader that Shem, though here mentioned last, was the eldest of Noah's sons. The rendering of R.V. marg., the brother of Japheth the elder, is very improbable.